Cameron Kelsall

2 days ago | bachtrack.com | Cameron Kelsall

Every critic dreams of witnessing a “star-is-born” moment, discovering on a whim an artist bound for an extraordinary career. At the Metropolitan Opera, singers like Roberta Peters and Kiri Te Kanawa began their illustrious associations with unplanned debuts, instantly announcing their importance by weathering the most difficult of circumstances.

5 days ago | bachtrack.com | Cameron Kelsall

Before decamping for their customary residencies in Colorado and upstate New York, the Philadelphia Orchestra ushered in the warmer months with a complete concert staging of Tristan und Isolde – a choice that gave an entirely new definition to the concept of “summer loving”. In 1934, this ensemble offered the first uncut performances of the opera in the United States, but it had only been heard in excerpted form since then.

1 week ago | bachtrack.com | Cameron Kelsall

Before offering the subscription debut of Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with the Philadelphia Orchestra, pianist Lara Downes shared an encouraging anecdote. Speaking to the audience at Marian Anderson Hall, Downes recounted a recent educational visit to a West Philadelphia elementary school, where she found that the students had as much familiarity with Price’s music as they did with Beethoven’s.

1 week ago | parterre.com | Cameron Kelsall

In the final weeks of their season at Severance Music Center, The Cleveland Orchestra proved the place of Jenufa as the most compelling music drama in the standard repertory. I said what I said, and I won’t take it back. Stripped of sets and costumes, this concert presentation sacrificed none of the emotional weight found in Leos Janácek’s surprisingly hopeful tragedy.

2 weeks ago | bachtrack.com | Cameron Kelsall

Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz wrote thousands of letters to each other, beginning in 1916 and continuing until his death 30 years later. Along the way, her talent and his influence turned them into one of the most influential artistic couples the United States has ever produced. Kevin Puts memorializes their complex relationship, and their way with words, in The Brightness of Light, a song cycle drawn from their voluminous correspondence.